Easter Bunny
by Tess 4 5
Summary: Sometimes it's in your own hand to win or lose a bet. And sometimes it even could be better to lose because that way you can win so much more.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's usual notes and disclaimer:** I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and solely own the ideas of _my_ stories and the developments _I've_ let them go through.

Please write a **P** rivate **M** essage if I did something terribly wrong so I can fix it. Thanks!

Please read and review! More thanks!

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 **Author's note and summary:** Sometimes it's in your own hand to win or lose a bet. And sometimes it even could be better to lose because that way you can win so much more.

Enjoy...

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 **Easter Bunny**

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"I bet it's been O'Connor!" she said. "And Lydia is doing all that only out of sheer love to him. Which, by the way, is no real crime."

"That she loves him?" he asked with amusement in his voice and tossed the notes onto his desk. He looked into a pair of glaring eyes.

"No, Sir. Driving the car to Oxford or turning on the lights in his flat is no crime." she grumbled. Then, picking up the spread files from her DI's desk, DS Barbara Havers muttered under her breath that loving someone was no crime either. "Even if she loves a murderer."

"If he's done it." DI Thomas Lynley objected. "Every sign, every trace, every evidence leads to _her_. We can't ignore that. We can't follow your gut feeling, Barbara. We have to keep to the facts."

Barbara sighed. Of course he was right. Still the feeling she had would not leave her and it even had deepened every time she had talked to that woman. Somehow she saw parts of herself, having a crush on her boss, which was not healthy at all for their working partnership and her personal sanity, made her doing things she would not do for other people. Fortunately they were both on the right side of the law.

"And there still is that timeframe in which everything could have happened. About 45 minutes in which he could have left that cinema and- oh, that's so clichéd, Sir, it hurts." It earned her a snickering wink from Lynley. "45 minutes to drive to the garden, exchange the liquids, prepare the cookies, let the dog out, leave her gin bottle he got earl- Sir, he _could_ have done that! Don't roll your eyes at me! And there was enough time to also leave the hairs and get back to his seat to see Vin Diesel crashing these cars."

"There is no single evidence for _him_ doing that! And the gin bottle has _her_ fingerprints."

"What about the gloves?"

Lynley shook his head. Barbara snorted. "And still. I can't believe she's done it."

"We should keep to-"

"...the facts, I know."

* * *

For a while they kept quiet and sipped at their coffee. This break from the interview had been much needed. Lydia Banks still denied she had done anything of what the evidence was clearly saying but her alibi was as soft as a sponge.

"I still bet she hasn't done it." Barbara said getting up and ready to return to the interview room.

"If you're right, Barbara, then I do whatever you want me to." Lynley offered.

"Even buying us tickets for the Gunners against the Tigers?" At first Barbara had something totally inappropriate flashing through her mind so she was glad she already had turned towards the door. This way he could not see her blushing face.

"Sure." Seeing a sweet blush creeping across her nape Lynley had to smile. He deeply wondered what else could have crossed her mind. He knew he would even do that, _whatever_ it was.

"It's football, Sir..."

"I know that, Havers."

"And I said _us_ , Sir. It includes accompanying me."

"Even that." With a self-confident grin he held the door open to his Sergeant. They had to return downstairs. "But when you lose-"

"If!"

" _When_ you lose you will come with me to Howenstow and attend the Autumn Garden Party."

Barbara groaned. He had been asking her not for the first time. She would not want to come but she was very sure she would not lose the bet. "Then we have a deal. Just let me talk to her alone first."

* * *

She did so. Of course it was recorded and Lynley watched them from the observing room but Barbara was able to tickle a few personal facts out of the small, almost broken woman so they had the hint of another lead for the Sergeant's theory. Still not completely convinced DI Lynley agreed on following it anyway.

It was the right thing to do. They found a witness who was confirming Lydia's weak alibi and a few traces that indicated Barbara's gut feeling could be right. It was enough to call O'Connor in the next day.

They started the interview together, watched by DC Nkata behind the one way mirror, and had agreed that Barbara would leave the room at Lynley's sign. So when he shoved the files to her side she started to feign reading them intensely, then whisper something into his ear as if she had found something else.

"I'll get me a coffee, Sir." she said loudly. "You want some?"

Never moving his eyes from the suspect Lynley shook his head. That little play had the wanted effect on O'Connor. He had started to become nervous. In the end Lynley managed to bring him to say something contradictory and finally to confess that he had not been to the cinema at all. It was a start.

"I've met another woman, Inspector. What do you suppose Lydia would think of that? She had killed a friend of mine! Do you really think under those circumstances I'd confess I've met someone else? She's in love with me and obviously madly so. I don't know what she would do to me if she'd find out?"

"Or to that other woman."

The man snorted. "Yah..."

"You don't mind that we check that? What's her name?"

"Angela." Lynley only raised an eyebrow before O'Connor added that he did not know her surename. "Langdon, Langley, something like that. I've only screwed her, we hadn't had much of a conversation. And before you ask, she's probably back home in New Zealand, I guess."

"Well, that's inconvenient, isn't it? Seeing that she's your alibi."

"Or convenient. She was just a bed bunny. Started to be clingy."

* * *

Lynley's eyes narrowed. That man on the other side of the table really did everything to be unappealing. His silence though made O'Connor go on talking about women.

"Lydia was quite a nice fuckable girl too. And clingy, you bet. But very convenient, being my secretary. Ah, don't look at me like this, Sir. You do want to shag your little Sergeant against the wall of your office sometimes, don't you?"

Cursing himself for actually having similar thoughts Lynley felt that his face turned slightly red. He overplayed it with anger. "Don't talk like that about Sergeant Havers, man! She's a true loyal friend and partner to me. And not everybody is as randy as you are. Let's get back to _your_ things, O'Connor. Where had you met Angela?"

"In a little hut in the woods near Oxford. You should check that. I can give you the way there. On that occasion you could try to seduce the sergeant. It's quite romantic."

"Listen!" Lynley was short before shouting at O'Connor. This man really got on his nerves. And he had hit a soft spot. One look into the eyes of his opponent and Tommy knew that he was not able to lie to that psychopath. "We are not talking about what I should do with my Sergeant. Just for the record: she's a woman I respect very much-"

"And love." O'Connor interjected with a juicy grin.

Involuntarily Lynley had almost invisibly nodded but was sure nobody had seen it. His hesitation though showed everybody that he was searching for the right words. The pause it had caused stretched one second too much. He should not let the suspect take over the lead of the conversation.

The grin on O'Connor's face only turned broader.

* * *

"I'll get me a coffee." Barbara muttered when she suddenly left the observation room. She could not stand watching these two talk about her. Or what Lynley _never_ would do to her. When the door fell into its lock Nkata was the only person who witnessed what followed in the interrogation room.

* * *

"Just for the record." O'Connor said closing the distance to the microfone. "DI Lynley has nodded."

"I haven't." Lynley hit the button that shut down the recorder. Instinctively Nkata hit the button that would record the conversation from the other room. Later he would make sure to delete whatever undeliberated things the DI would say in his anger but if there was any sign of confession from their suspect they needed it on tape.

A harsh argument followed. Lynley more than once confessed that he felt something for Barbara. At some point he even confessed that he loved her but he would not do any of the naughty things O'Connor suggested. Fortunately the emotional dispute made the criminal feel so safe that he eventually stumbled over his own story. It was enough to keep him at the station.

Tommy gave him a triumphant grin.

"John Anthony O'Connor, I arrest you for the strong suspicion of murdering Mary Jones. You don't have to say anything..."

* * *

Nkata had heard enough. He rubbed his forehead. This would become a long night in which he would have to try and manipulate the recordings so much that nobody would be able to hear what had slipped the DI's lips. He was thinking about constant static noise, crackling noise interferences and maybe even deletion of some parts. He was so deep in thoughts about how hard it would become to take the responsibility for not having switched off his mobile and accidentally brushing the on/off button that he jumped when suddenly the door swung open.

"Did you get that?" Lynley snarled. He still was agitated. Nkata only nodded. "Where is she?"

"Gone for a coffee, Sir." the DC croaked.

"How much did she hear?" Lynley's voice had turned distinctively softer.

"That you respect her, Sir." Lynley nodded, gave him a rather long and quizzical look but then turned to leave without saying anything else. Nkata deeply inhaled. "Sir?"

"What else?"

"With all due respect, Sir." Winston ignored the glare and the raised eyebrow that told him to mind his next words. "You should tell her that you're in love with her."

"Pardon?" Carefully closing the door behind him Lynley stepped into the dimly lit room.

"Sir, I know it's none of my business, but you've been dancing around each other constantly for years. I think you should tell her the truth."

"As you correctly discovered, Constable, it's none of your business what I tell her and what not. Now will you please take care of that recording you hopefully have started. Keep an eye on it, it's the only recording. Is that understood?"

"Very clearly so, Sir." Nkata swallowed down any other reply he had wanted to give his boss. In the end they were his superiours and it really was none of his business. It was a pity anyway.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Losing his temper had been part of the strategy. Losing his temper like this had not really been planned, but Lynley had known Nkata would make sure the argument would be recorded anyway. He also was glad that Nkata was able to manipulate the tapes a bit so that there were no embarassing things on it. In the end O'Connor's statements, even though slightly crackling on that tape, had led to a new series of evidence and a couple of more witnesses and so they finally were able to wrap it up and send him to court. He was sentenced to many long years in prison and Lydia was set free on probation. She only was responsible for helping him clearing his traces. She had done all these little things that had helped him out of unawareness of his true character or what she was helping to blur.

Although she had won her bet Barbara attended the Autumn Garden Party anyway. Lady Asherton, Lynley's mother, had sent her a personal invitation she could not decline. Barbara actually did not regret going to Howenstow. In the end it had turned into a wet and muddy but nonetheless totally enjoyable event they would talk about for years. What they did not talk about was the match she had wanted to see with her boss.

Winter approached and with it the date of the fixture. Another case, one with a whole series of murders, and with the nastiest corpses, held almost the entire Met in its ugly claws. There simply was no time to think about a football match. When it was the day of the clash it already was sold out so they had to wait for the next season or go to Yorkshire to see the return match. Unaware of it meaning to spend at least one night away with him Barbara actually had insisted on that.

Instead of that football match Lynley suddenly had started to invite her for some theatre plays during winter which Barbara surprisingly enjoyed as well. Until the next year they had come to a routine of going to different concerts, plays and movies and had enjoyed more than a dozen of dinners together. Not to mention the wonderful Police Christmas Ball where they even had danced.

If she would not know it better Barbara would say she was dating her boss. And more than once she had thought, yes, almost hoped he would kiss her after he had walked her home. More than once she had felt his arm around her shoulders and had prepared for _everything_ in the last row of seats in the cinema. In the end they always only laughed or smiled and kept their distance.

Their proximity also led to her starting to call him Tommy from time to time. When she was not watching her words it sometimes slipped her lips. When she had done it for the first time Lynley had blurted out a heart-felt "Finally!". Barbara only had looked at him in surprise and both had nervously laughed. He still was her boss and at work she never would dare that.

Spending a lot of private time together had made working with him easier and more difficult at the same time. On one hand they were closer than ever and understood each other better than anybody else. On the other hand she had started to not only realise but confessing it to herself that the former crush on the handsome Earl of Asherton had turned into deeper feelings that were close to falling in love with him. In fact, she decided one evening in February, she already had fallen.

What a mess.

In order to sort her feelings she called in for a few days off. It came in handy that there was no case at the moment anyway. Barbara had to think a lot about the mess that her emotional life had become.

* * *

Without Barbara Nkata and Lynley were working through some old cases together in the DI's office. His boss was absent-minded and sort of dreamy all the time so on the second day Winston finally took a heart and addressed him.

"Sir?"

"Huh?" Lynley jerked and almost dropped the coffee mug he had been holding in front of his face for a couple of minutes without a sip from it. His eyes had been concentrating on an imaginary spot on his desk without him recognising it. His ears turned slightly red.

"You can't get her off your mind, can you?"

"What are you talking, Constable?" the DI grumbled hiding his confusion with aimless sorting of files. He knew very well what Nkata implied. He was caught daydreaming.

"She's gone for one day and you already miss her." If Lynley would bite off his head Nkata would not mind. He had kept his thoughts to himself for long enough. These two were visibly so in love and something still was hindering them from finally confessing it. He had to say something. The rules of the Met were not so strict anymore. They should not fear to be separated just because they had slipped into a private relationship and Winston could not think about any other reasons for them to not step over that stupid line they obviously had drawn between each other. "You should tell her, Sir."

To Nkata's surprise Lynley's expression suddenly turned soft. His boss sighed. "Ah, Winston, it's not that easy, you know."

"It's easier than you think. She hadn't told me in words but the feelings Barbara harbours for you are obvious. And the longer you wait the more obvious it will be. And tormenting inside. And it looks as if your feelings for her-"

"I can't. I'm her boss, I'm a bloody earl, I'm a poncy public school boy. I'm everything she dislikes." Tommy groaned distressed.

Nkata gave a laugh. "You're _you_ , Sir. And as much as she had hated everything you represent, as much she had come to like it over the years she's spent with you. Believe me. You should ask her out for dinner or something."

"We already do that."

This made Nkata gape. "No..."

"Even somewhat regularly." Lynley sadly chuckled.

"You date?!" Winston's voice almost hitched.

Tommy shrugged. "Sort of."

"Well, then maybe you could go to some movie with her." Seeing the lopsided grin on Lynley's face which said they also did _that_ made Nkata's eyes open even wider in surprise. There was definitely something interesting going on between the two but he had not seen that they already were dating. He shook his head in disbelief. "Then just tell her." he murmured.

"Mh." Out of shame he had not done that a long time ago the DI just took another file and continued his pretence of reading. His Constable understood the topic was closed and Lynley would not want to talk about it any more so he also feigned interest in what was still unsolved and the men kept their noses hidden in the files for several minutes.

* * *

Suddenly Nkata had to chuckle.

"What else?" Of course Lynley had not read any word at all. His mind still was orbiting around Barbara.

"Just a thought..." The Constable continued to grin.

"Nkata! Say it!"

"You could simply kiss her when you're at the cinema the next time. You know how it works. Tickets for the last row, picking a romantic mov-"

"Bollocks! We're no teenagers, Winston!" Lynley returned his fake attention to the Manila folder in his hands. He already had tried that last row seating trick but had found himself too scared to go on after he had placed his arms around Barbara's shoulder and had felt her straightening her back and becoming tense. Although she had not looked angry and had not shaken his arm off he still had thought he had gone too far.

"Hm. It's February, Sir." Winston shook him out of his reverie again.

"Meaning what?"

"Valentine's Day."

"No..."

"Why not?"

"You mean, I should give her chocolate and roses? She'd say it's clichéd."

"Then maybe a simple card?" Nkata openly grinned at his boss who was shaking his head. Lynley obviously was deeper in love with Barbara than he would confess, he thought, or else he never would have that conversation with him. He would try to tickle his boss into something he would not be able to get out easily. "Ah, I see. I think you're too cowardish."

"And I think you're overstepping the lines, Constable."

Winston knew he already was deep in trouble so why not make the most of it. "With all due respect, Sir, I bet you're not even daring to send her an anonymous Valentine card."

"What if I do?"

"I'll come to work in a bunny costume at Easter." Winston's nasty grin turned even broader. "But if you don't, then _you_ 'll come like that."

Lynley laughed out loud. An anonymous card would be an easy thing. And maybe he could give a subtle but clear hint. Or even tell... or... or maybe an anonymous card would do for the time being. He held out his arm across the desk for his Constable to shake hands on it.

"We have a deal, Winston."

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	3. Chapter 3

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Those days off, as short as that time was, had done her good but Barbara had not come to any real solution to her emotional turmoil. In the evening before she would return to work she decided to simply take what she gets from it and let it flow from no on. Wherever it may head. In her position she was not the one who should make the first step anyway, or so she thought. Additionally she would not dare either. She just would watch where their dating would lead to, where their strange relationship would end. They were close friends and that had to be sufficient.

February the 14th came and went by without a card on Barbara's desk. Not that she had expected anything, at least not really, but she and Tommy had continued to get even closer every day so parts of her silly brain had hoped to find one. And if not a card then maybe a romantic dinner. Nothing like that happened but the disappointment lasted only briefly. There was work to do - another crime to solve and another killer to find.

Partly Lynley, in his capacity as the leading DI, was highly distracted by that nasty crime, partly he actually had not dared to give her a Valentine's card. Tommy felt like a coward but the envelope stayed hidden in a drawer of his desk. When he returned the next day he found a coloured egg on its pad. He understood that Nkata had not forgotten their bet at all.

Oh, that was going to be such a joy for the office.

* * *

Easter was in April this year. Unfortunately there was another tricky case that kept most of their team busy. On Tuesday after the Easter weekend Barbara was in early. A bit later Winston arrived and asked if Lynley already was in his office but she had not seen him yet. In fact he still had not arrived when it turned nine o'clock. Barbara started to worry and already had dialled his number when the main door opened. She only briefly looked up, seeing it was no familiar face. Only when she heard his mobile ringing in the doorframe she returned her eyes to the strange person coming in.

Well, _person_ was not really the exact term.

He was in a tight black dinner jacket, with a black bow tie and white shirt. So far so good-looking. On his dark tamed hair though two fluffy bunny ears were ridiculously wiggling and on his nose there was something that looked like a rabbit's face. The funniest thing though were the buckteeth that came into sight from under his upper lip. Seeing an amused but slightly uneasy look in the man's eyes Barbara could not suppress a chuckle.

"Before fomeone afkf - I've loft a bet." Lynley's voice was heard. The bunny man waved a basket with Easter candies towards their grinning colleagues and gave them a lopsided smile. "And I've got fweetief for you all."

His words, more precisely the ridiculous unability to say a proper _S_ made Barbara break into a series of short laughs. His desperate expression was no help at all to stop that. And when he eventually turned his back on her to walk to the other colleagues first she finally was not able to hold back the loud boisterous laugh that had built in the depth of her midriff.

Between the coat-tails, pinned at his bottom, a bright white tail of a hare stuck out.

"Fergeant Haverf, you really could show fome fympafy!" Lynley said but when he wagged his tail in her direction there was no more help for Barbara to keep her self-control. She laughed so hard her knees went weak and she had to sit down on her chair. She watched her boss going around and giving everybody a little treat for Easter, making everybody smile and cheer up despite the darkness of the nasty case they were at. Onto every desk he put a small nest, made of green paper grass, a few chocolate eggs in it and a small bottle of alcohol.

While Barbara was distracted by the cute sight of her boss Winston was asking himself if he was the only one in the room who saw the fondness in her eyes. Fondness and love but also a touch of sadness. He shook his head before his eyes went back to the CCTV footage on the screen of his computer. He would find something else to make them realise. Maybe he would simply put them into one room and lock the door. Best thing would be to throw away the keys then.

* * *

Lynley ended his round through the office at Barbara's desk. Eventually she had stopped laughing although the grin did not leave her face for quite a while. But an idea had come to her mind. Staring at her monitor she thought that it must have been a bet with one of their colleagues, otherwise Tommy would not have made a fool of himself in front of all the officers. She racked her brain, still she could not think of anybody who he would have bet with. Or what it was about. And by the way, he still owed her a visit to the stadium.

"It'f not very funny, Haverf." Collapsing into the spare chair at Barbara's desk Lynley smiled at her. "Ftill, happy Eafter!" One of those paper nests landed on her desk and she looked up into his face with a broad grin.

"Happy Easter to you too, Sir." She gave him a warm smile, answered by him with a similar expression. "And if I may say so, you look rather stunning today."

Tommy rolled his eyes but he was smiling. "Fank you, Barbara." Then he pointed towards the monitor with his chin. "Anyfing... ah... bollockf!" He took the teeth out of his mouth and smacked his lips. "Mh, much better. Anything new from the telephone company?"

"You've looked quite cute _with_ them, Sir." Ignoring his question Barbara still grinned. "And with this new beard of yours."

Featherlightly brushing his cheek she playfully pulled at his plastic whiskers. The accidental touch initiated a sudden change. Something shifted. Something was sizzling in the air as if a lightning had struck between them. Suddenly their eyes locked and involuntarily Barbara's fingers briefly stopped their movements before she let her fingertips glide down his cheek. She let them linger at the side of his chin. Her grin died completely and his eyes turned serious. They already had been sitting close but now they moved even closer. Barbara's heart missed a beat.

What was happening here?

* * *

It would not happen _here_ , Nkata thought when he obeserved them. As much as he would be happy for them they should not kiss here in public, when most of their colleague's eyes still lasted on him in his funny costume. Grabbing a note he got up and quickly moved over to Barbara's desk.

"And I'd say these teeth belong to the bunny costume. Hm?" Out of nowhere Nkata, pretending to be oblivious to what happened, appeared next to Barbara's desk. With a broad grin and an encouraging turn of his chin towards the false teeth he prompted Lynley to put them back on.

Barbara nodded shyly chuckling. Her nervous eyes went down to the ground and she had to clear her throat. For a couple of seconds she had thought Tommy would kiss her, or she would kiss him, or something like that, but the irritating moment was over before it really had begun. Thanks to Nkata who had saved her from doing something completely stupid in the middle of the office.

"Sometimes you're really pesky." Lynley grumbled and put the teeth back. "Better, Conftable?"

His subordinates still were grinning amused when he vanished behind the door to his office but he was only grumpy now. He had just been about to let the spell of the wonderful moment lead him to a long wanted kiss when Nkata, the Constable who had told him to declare himself to Barbara, that same bloody man had interrupted him.

* * *

That same man now still stood at Barbara's desk and looked at the list of numbers on her monitor.

"You should follow and lift his spirits, Barbie." Nkata said as innocently as possible. "I have the vague feeling he is not overly happy at the moment."

"Hm, you think so?" She watched the closed door. The shutters usually were down like now but the door mainly stood open in the recent years. He seldomly closed it in order to keep in touch with his team. This time he almost had slammed the door, so maybe Winston was right, Barbara thought. "I wonder what the bet was about, don't you? And with whom he had bet."

"With me." In the same second he regretted his words and cursed himself. He should not have said that. Winston knew it when Barbara shot him one of her death glares that bored deep into one's soul.

"With _you_?!" she hissed. "What was it about?"

"Ask _him_. I don't think _I_ should tell you." Winnie tried to quickly make sure he would get out of her reach, better even out of her sight.

"Wait!" She called into his back and quickly followed him to his desk. She would not want the office be included to their conversation but she had to know more. "Wait, Winnie! Are you suggesting that you both had a bet on something _I_ 'd do? Or wouldn't? You've really bet on me?"

"Well... no... not really. It's more of..." Winston started to feel uneasy. "Oh, please... Barbie! Ask Lynley. I can't tell you."

"Winston!"

"I can't! And I shouldn't. Seriously! Barbara, he probably would bite off my head." Nkata's expression had turned desperate. He could not tell her, could he. "It's nothing bad. Really! And I really hadn't intended to bet at all but... somehow one word came to the other and then..."

He started to chew on his lower lip. Again Barbara was about to kill him with her eyes but Winston thought it would be better if Lynley was the one to tell her about that deal.

"It'd better be something very harmless, Winnie!" Hissing that she shot him another dark glare before she grabbed some random files from his desk and went to knock at Lynley's door.

She had to find out what the bet was about.

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	4. Chapter 4

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"Come in!" Lynley answered the knock rather absent-minded but his face lit up when he saw it was Barbara. She had come in before he even had inhaled for a reply. "Yes? Finally found something?"

"Mh. Actually no, Sir." Preventing herself from slamming the door she carefully closed it behind her and turned. He had removed the teeth and the nose but to her surprise the bunny ears still were wiggling on his head. She suspected the ridiculous rabbit tail to be still in its place too. Tommy had been reading a file, still standing in front of his desk, when she had come in and it looked as if he had been distracted by that file straight after he had come to his working place. He was tossing it on the desk now.

Tommy looked so innocent and obviously was not aware how adorable he looked with these ears. Adorable and cute and funny and slightly out of his comfort zone. Barbara would have loved to simply kiss that face and ease him. The thought alone gave her skin a rosy flush. Although she felt that _she_ should be eased instead because _she_ was the one who should be given a very good explanation she also realised that most of her anger had vanished in the instant she had seen him.

"No, it's just..." She avoided his eyes. She was angry. He should not see her eyes. Barbara knew they would reveal her other, rather opposite feelings. "Well, in fact I only wanted to know _a bit_ more about that bet, Sir. I've already asked Winston-"

"Oh, heavens!" Tommy cursed and hid his face in his palm. "So you know already? Well... what... what do you say?"

"I'm quite unpleased..." she said with a sharp voice. "...to be the centre of a bet. Winnie hasn't told me any details but that it had something to do with me and that I should ask you. I actually don't like someone placing bets on me, you know. So?"

Tommy exhaled. It was obvious that Barbara was angry but somehow he was relieved that she still did not know. On the other hand he had to tell her a fake story if he still would not want to tell her the truth.

"And I want to hear the truth, Sir." Barbara's eyes had narrowed. It was as if she had been reading his mind.

His hand automatically went through his hair where it became entangled with the bunny ear circlet. Angrily he ripped the stupid thing from his head and tossed it onto the file cabinet. With a rough yank he also ripped the bunny tail from his backside and then deeply breathed twice before he turned with a pensive expression. He walked to the window. The content of the words he uttered while he looked onto the street through the dusty grey pane had no real connection to that bet but Barbara let him go on. She knew he was searching for the right words. He did that sometimes when he had to tell her bad news or unpleasant information and so she prepared herself for a probably very male bet at her expense. She knew he knew she would not like it. Hence his stammering.

* * *

Then Tommy turned. He deeply inhaled. She wanted to hear the truth - she would get the truth. "He's challenged me. I mean, Winston. Winston's challenged me. When you've been at home for a couple of days earlier this year. He has said I would be too cowardish to give you a card on Valentine's Day."

A Valentine's card? Did they really try to play with her feelings? Did they really try to mock her? Her forehead furrowed more. Her eyes darkened with growing fury. "...and?!"

"Well..." Tommy shrugged and bit his lower lip. He expected Barbara to break out in really mad anger. Or laughter. "I was."

"What?" Barbara impatiently pressed on.

"A coward. I was a coward. I had not been brave enough to give you that card."

"But you had wanted to?"

"M-hm." He looked rather contrite.

"So... Do I get that right - you really had wanted to play with my feelings?" Barbara grumbled. "You actually-"

Tommy was quick and interjected a firm "No!" before she could have said anything else. "Never..." he added when he saw her features soften just the slightest bit. He had to set that right. And he would tell her everything. Right now.

"Then why should _you_ be too cowardish-" Something had crossed her mind. Her brows furrowed again. Maybe Winston had told Tommy something from a long evening a couple of years ago when she had let her mask slip a bit while she had been at the bar drinking with Nkata. "Why had he challenged you anyway? I don't think it's any of his business to prompt you to... such... ridiculous behaviour..."

* * *

Tommy turned to look out of the window again. It was a grey and misty April day so he did not see much further than to the walls of the next house. He sighed. Actually he did not look at anythink specific, he just needed to look somewhere else than at the angry woman next to him. In the corner of his eyes he could see that Barbara still had her arms folded in front of her chest. She still waited for an answer. He sighed again just to calm down his nerves. It was time to tell her the truth. Surely she would not be angry when she knew but Tommy was prepared to be laughed down. With a deep breath he started his explanation. His eyes still were fixed on a spot somewhere outside of the window.

"When I was working with Winston I was quite absent-minded and he recognised it. He isn't blind, you know. And he already had confronted me with it earlier. Now he was even bolder and didn't cease from poking. Eventually he twisted the knife and said it would be time to stop dancing around each other. He had suspected I'd be thinking of you. Which... Well, which was right. He said, that everybody would be able to see that there's something... sizzling between us. Something... which is way beyond friendship and... umm... that we were the only ones who wouldn't realise it. Or acting on it like we should."

Barbara did not trust her ears. She could not believe that he actually had been talking with Winston about that. Neither could she believe Tommy was telling her about it so frankly. She fought hard to stay calm. Her heart was thumping so hard against her chest she thought Tommy would be able to hear it. He kept his eyes diverted to something outside of the window though.

"Winston and I were talking about me, you, the Met... In the end he called me a coward for not... confessing to you and then he challenged me into that bet." Barbara could see him smiling. "That afternoon I had been so sure. Even the evening before Valentine's day I was sure I'd give that card to you. I wrote at it the entire evening, in fact almost the entire night..." Tommy gave a short disbelieving laugh. He still looked out of the window. He did not dare to look at Barbara. He did not dare to be in any way stopped now that he finally found a way to tell her. "Starting with an anonymous text, then hinting at the sender, then deciding I should clearly sign it. It was hard work. I wanted it to be perfect but at first I've had too much text, then there was not enough. It was too stupid or silly or quirky. All day I was racking my brain but only in the dark, after god knows how many abortive attempts, I finally was able to find the right words to tell you. Or so I had planned. In the end, when I stood at your desk to place it there, I lost my courage and hid the card in my drawer. I..." Shrugging Tommy shot a quick glance at Barbara. She looked tight-lipped but not really angry. He would even say her face had softened more but she still was wrinkling her forehead and he could not decipher her expression at all. He sighed once again.

In fact Barbara was dumbfounded and agitated. Out of fear that her own emotions could be revealed she kept a stone face. Her boss somehow was telling her what she never had dared to hope, or wasn't he? She feared that this was just a dream and she would wake up in the next moments. But if this really was just a dream she should not be so anxious. And she really not dared to think about how the charged moment earlier could fit into this. If Tommy was trying to say what she thought he was then why hadn't he kissed her at her desk? Then she remembered - bloody Winston had interrupted them.

* * *

Misinterpreting Barbara's frown Tommy let his eyes wander down to his shoes. "I still have it in there. In my desk. I mean, now that everything's turned... bad, why shouldn't I give it to you anyway. Just to let you know..."

"Nothing has turned bad." Her voice was quiet but her words finally made him look up and straight into her face. Only this time it was her eyes that looked anywhere but into his. He gained hope. Although he simply would have loved to pull Barbara into an embrace to end this awkwardness and let her lips feel what he felt for her Tommy turned towards his desk.

Barbara was surprised that he had locked that drawer but she knew that the card had been on top of everything because with one grasp he took it out of there. She had followed him to his desk which now was between them when he handed her the envelope without a word. He was blushing. Afraid of showing too much of her emotions she turned and walked away, towards the shutters at the window to the office, before she started to read.

* * *

 _Dear Barbara,_

 _will you be my Valentine?_

 _This may appear as if it comes  
out of the blue but in fact I have  
pondered on it for quite some time.  
Words are not enough to describe  
how much I feel for you, how deep  
my affection for you has become  
throughout all these years we've  
spent together, or how many things  
rush through my mind while I am  
writing this. _

_In the end it's not complicated at all.  
So I simply write_

I love you!

 _Tommy_

* * *

Barbara silently sobbed when she had reached the end of the text. And although she had turned her back on Tommy she knew he had followed her. She knew he was right behind her now, almost touching her back. She even could hear that he had stopped breathing.

She let her hand slowly sink while she stared at the closed blinds. Tears streamed down her face and she had to struggle with a huge wave of different feelings. Disbelief and happiness, relief and hope and anxiety, even anger; all this twisted through her in an emotional tornado. She did not know what to say or what to do. Safety barriers that had been built a long time ago had crushed down with three simple words she never ever would have thought she would be told. Like that. By Tommy. Instinctively she knew he meant them by heart but she did not know how she should cope with it. She had dreamed of something like this but never had she thought her love for him was mutual so she never had dared to spend thoughts on what might happen, what she should do, what he expected her to say after the unthinkable confession. Barbara deeply breathed to calm down her nerves.

In her back Tommy cleared his throat. "Well?" he croaked.

Barbara shrugged. Then she shook her head and shrugged again. Her chin fell to her chest. Another shrug was followed by a nod. When she felt Tommy placing his hand on her right shoulder, brushing the skin at her neck with his thumb, she lifted it and tilted her head almost so far that she would reach his fingers with her cheek. Her breath was ragged.

"Could you please say something, Barbara?" she heard him desperately whispering. "Or at least stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing, you idiot!" she finally sobbed but before he could give a proper reply she had turned, tossed the card anywhere and with her left hand tugging fiercely at his dinner jacket's lapel she pulled his face down to hers. With her right hand buried in the hair in the back of his head she made sure he would not back away.

He would not anyway. Tommy only hesitated for one surprised second before he closed his eyes and answered her impetuous kiss with the same intensity Barbara offered him.

The day after Easter they finally had become each other's Valentine.

* * *

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 **A/N:** Thanks for your feedback.

* * *

Tess


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